Lovis Corinth produced the twelve prints of Antike Legenden (Classical Legends) just after World War I, when the themes of struggle, battle, and conflict would have been easily understood in a modern context. Corinth hewed to the classical story line, but created a modern look for the ancient narrative. He rendered his subjects in a sketchy, Expressionist style, rich with the burr of the drypoint needle used to etch the plates. While many of the themes evoke conflict, such as Der Raub der Helena (The Abduction of Helen) or Die Schmiede des Vulkan (The Forge of Vulcan), where the god of fire created the weapons of war, Corinth subverted the martial theme in Der Spiegel der Venus (The Mirror of Venus), in which the goddess of love uses the shield of Mars (god of war) as a mirror to reflect her voluptuous beauty.

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